I can't remember the official name for it right now. You know when the abdominal muscles separate during pg. Anyway, I don't remember it really with my first pg. My second I had it and it hurt from about the 5th month on. I have it again and sooner. It started hurting a few weeks ago. I'm just now 15 weeks and I'm afraid this time around it will be bad. Trying to send out good vibes though. I can feel the split when I lie on my back and lift my head. It starts at my belly button and goes down. It doesn't bother me too much except in certain positions and if I cough or sneeze. I have found that I can't carry my 4 yr old anymore. Then it hurts. I will actually feel a stabbing pain in the area every time I try to carry him. It makes me sad when he wants or needs me to hold him and I can't.

I wish I could put staples in there to stop the muscles from separating.

I can totally relate! My girls did it to me because they were higher up. So mine are split from my stomach all the way down. My last pg it hurt a lot. It hasn't hurt with this one yet, but it will. The thing that bothers me the most, besides the pain, is that I look really pg because I don't have any muscles to hold in the fat. So I look 7 months pg and I am only 3 right now. : That doesn't help when I don't want certain family members to know that I am pg right now.

i wondered if I had this, because my abs feel like they are seperated more than normal. But it doesn't hurt. I wonder if very very very gentle exercise might help (though that might hurt too) because I bet that strengthening those muscles might cause them to regain some of their former strength and tone.

Here is some good info on it... it's called diastis, and at the end of the article it explains how to tell if you have it and that exercising does help (it explains good ones to do).

s Im so sorry you are in pain.. Have you tried warm baths to relax the pain some? Or maybe some light stretching.. Im trying to remember the classes Ive taken but I don't remember what they say to do with muscle problems like that..

I think I might have this, leftover from the first pregnancy. Every so often, like if I have a coughing fit or sit up in a way that twists my abdominal muscles awkwardly, I get a massive cramp in my stomach muscles- kind of like a foot cramp, where the muscle seizes up and I have to breathe through it any try to get it to relax. It is intensely painful. Could it be from a separation? Or is this something else? The first time it happened I was worried I had a hernia but I saw my GP and he said it was just a cramp.

SAHM to 6.5yo DS and 4yo DD. PCOS with two early m/cs. Married 8 yrs. Certified birth doula, writer, editor.

I think I might have this, leftover from the first pregnancy. Every so often, like if I have a coughing fit or sit up in a way that twists my abdominal muscles awkwardly, I get a massive cramp in my stomach muscles- kind of like a foot cramp, where the muscle seizes up and I have to breathe through it any try to get it to relax. It is intensely painful. Could it be from a separation? Or is this something else? The first time it happened I was worried I had a hernia but I saw my GP and he said it was just a cramp.

That actually sounds kind of like a round ligament. I get round ligament pain when I cough or sneeze when I'm laying down. It's like a super bad intense cramp for a few minutes.

I didn't get this at all with my first, and with my third it didn't bother me, but with my second, I blamed it on how incredibly active he was, and how sick I was in the begining. My doc said the throwing up might have actually had something to do with it. With my last preg. I was put on bedrest at 20 wks, so I had to be careful how I moved, so I don't remember it being an issue, the round ligament pain was though, ugh, I'm loose jointed anyway, you add relaxing and my joints just kinda of slide all over the place putting pressure on ligaments that really don't want it.

My doc this time is sending me to a physical therapist who specializes in preg. and they are measuring me for a preg. support belt. It gets hot here to, so I am a little concerned, but with the way the muscles are letting everything go up top, and the fact that I have already gained almost 25 pounds and that is enough strain on my frame, I'm willing to give it a try. I'll let yall know how it goes after 6-12 when I go.